Avalanche Forecast

Archived

Mar 23rd, 2025–Mar 24th, 2025

Alpine

Natural and human triggered avalanches likely.

Treeline

Natural and human triggered avalanches likely.

Below Treeline

Natural and human triggered avalanches likely.

Alpine

Natural avalanches possible, human triggered probable.

Treeline

Natural avalanches possible, human triggered probable.

Below Treeline

Natural avalanches possible, human triggered probable.

Alpine

Natural avalanches possible, human triggered probable.

Treeline

Natural avalanches unlikely, human triggered possible.

Below Treeline

Natural avalanches unlikely, human triggered possible.

Regions

Coquihalla, Harrison-Fraser, Manning.

During periods of high hazard, avoid all avalanche terrain.

We expect a large natural avalanche cycle with significant precipitation and warming.

Confidence

Moderate

Avalanche Summary

Looking ahead, we expect a widespread natural avalanche cycle with new snow and rain at lower elevations.

On Saturday, a skier was involved in a storm slab avalanche, up to 60 cm deep, near July Mountain.

Thank you for sharing your observations to the MIN.

Snowpack Summary

25 to 50 cm of new snow will fall above 1500 m, with rain below. Snow will be redistributed by strong southwesterly winds. Expect to find deeper and more reactive deposits on north and east-facing slopes. This falls on 30 to 50 cm of recent snow. Below this, there are hard wind-affected surfaces or a thin melt-freeze crust on southerly slopes.

A supportive crust is found 60 to 80 cm deep on all aspects except on high, north-facing alpine terrain, and the recent settling snow is bonding well to it.

A weak layer of facets and surface hoar from February is now 90 to 150 cm deep and a layer of facets and surface hoar from late January is 130 to 190 cm deep. No recent notable test results have been seen on these layers.

Weather Summary

Sunday Night

Cloudy with 15 to 20 mm, falling as snow above 1500 m. 60 to 80 km/h southwest ridgetop winds. Treeline temperature 1 °C.

Monday

Cloudy with 10 to 30 mm, falling as snow above 1500 m. 50 to 80 km/h southwest ridgetop winds. Treeline temperature 2 °C.

Tuesday

Cloudy with 2 mm, falling as snow above 2000 m. 20 to 50 km/h southwest ridgetop winds. Treeline temperature 6 °C.

Wednesday

Partly cloudy. 30 km/h south ridgetop winds. Treeline temperature 4 °C.

More details can be found in the Mountain Weather Forecast.

Terrain and Travel Advice

Avoid avalanche terrain during periods of heavy loading from new snow, wind, or rain.
Only the most simple non-avalanche terrain with no overhead hazard is appropriate at this time.
Use extra caution for areas that are experiencing rapidly warming temperatures for the first time.

Problems

Storm Slabs

Storm Slab avalanches are the release of a cohesive layer (a slab) of new snow that breaks within new snow or on the old snow surface. Storm-slabs typically last between a few hours and few days (following snowfall). Storm-slabs that form over a persistent weak layer (surface hoar, depth hoar, or near-surface facets) may be termed Persistent Slabs or may develop into Persistent Slabs.

Loose Wet

Loose Wet avalanches are the release of wet unconsolidated snow or slush. These avalanches typically occur within layers of wet snow near the surface of the snowpack, but they may quickly gouge into lower snowpack layers. Like Loose Dry Avalanches, they start at a point and entrain snow as they move downhill, forming a fan-shaped avalanche. Other names for loose-wet avalanches include point-release avalanches or sluffs. Loose Wet avalanches can trigger slab avalanches that break into deeper snow layers.